The Political Conundrum!

A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

Four Camp Pendleton-based Marines, including one known as "Psycho," have pleaded not guilty in the execution-style slayings of a fellow Marine and his wife.

The U.S. military says a group of Iraqi soldiers has donated $500 to help California wildfire victims. Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil says his troops want to send a message to the American people with the donation that "we are a family."

An all-black Civil War infantry unit honored in the Oscar-winning movie "Glory" with Denzel Washington is making a real-life comeback.

With the United States reevaluating strategy in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is telling allies that additional U.S. forces planned for the war must be shared across the region taking the brunt of the fighting.

The Defense Department has banned the use of external computer flash drives in the Pentagon because of a virus threat that officials detected on defense networks. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would provide no details on the virus, but he described it as a "global virus."

This is one you will want to check out. After checking out the trailer below, head over to http://www.outsidethewire.com/

The good news yesterday was the conviction on all counts of Monzar al Kassar,the international weapons trafficker and friend of numerous terrorist organizations.

Al Kassar and his accomplice, Luis Moreno Godoy were convicted in New York of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; conspiracy to murder U.S. officers and employees; conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and money laundering. The convictions represent the first time anyone has been charged with and convicted of the anti-aircraft missile statute.

Al Kassar, like Viktor Bout and others, are part of the shadowy world of facilitators that work across criminal and terrorist organizations, supplying them with what they need-from weapons to passports to money laundering services.

Successfully targeting these shadow facilitators hurts both groups and is one of the more effective ways of crippling the terrorist/criminal enterprises they empower.

As I wrote when he was arrested (and you can find the indictment and other articles here too), the arrest sprang from a sting operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to whom he thought he was selling surface-to-air missiles which he hoped would kill Americans. The US won al Kassar's extradition from Spain in order to stand trial in the United States.

It was the same template the DEA used to arrest Viktor Bout in Thailand. The conviction augers well for what would be a very similar case against Bout, if he ever gets here. My full blog is here.

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new statement from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban) rejecting Afghan President Hamid Karzai's solemn offer to Mullah Omar to "guarantee his security and safety" if he would agree to willingly participate in peace negotiations. The Taliban assert that "Karzai and his masters should know, personal immunity and power obtainment is not an issue for Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid." Further, "Our people may remember that at the first months following the American invasion of Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai was reiterating the same appeals and polished assertions for members and the rank and file of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, claiming no member of Taliban, whether senior or junior, would be harassed merely by being a member of Taliban. Then, we saw with our own eyes that thousands of defenseless Taliban were arrested and kept in containers and dungeons of Qallae Jangi. They were consequently mercilessly martyred -- an unforgettable tragedy reminiscent of Mr. Karzai’s retracting his promise... one can conclude that the hackneyed words and assertions by Mr. Karzai are aimed at throwing dust in the eyes of the people. Ironically, Karzai has not the authority to take up the dialogue by his own nor can tell the nation the truth.”

A copy of the statement can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "This weekend I am in Lima, Peru, meeting with leaders from nations in the Asia Pacific region at our annual summit. This summit comes at a time of serious turmoil in the global economy. It also comes at a time of unprecedented cooperation. A week ago in Washington, I hosted the first in what will be a series of international meetings to address the financial crisis. We reviewed the actions we have taken to manage the crisis. And we agreed on principles and specific actions to modernize our financial structures for the 21st century and help prevent another crisis."